Notable contestants
This page contains a list of notable contestants who appeared on Press Your Luck during the 1980s run. Michael Larson This guy from Lebanon, Ohio was obsessed with game shows and had nothing better to do with his time. But his big break came in November 1983, as Michael Larson discovered Press Your Luck on CBS while surfing the channels, and discovered that the so-called random light bouncing around the board was actually a fixed pattern. Having taken note of it, he discovered the ultimate formula for getting rich and becoming famous. He attended a taping of the show on May 19, 1984, and when he made his appearance, he dominated the big board for more tban 40 spins in a row, focusing only on targeting squares 4 and 8, which guaranteed cash plus a spin in Round 2, causing the obsessive guy to take advantage of the board. Despite several missteps along the way, including hitting Square 17 on his last passed spin, which luckily was a trip to the Bahamas (which was worth $2,636, much more than the $750 + a Spin he was aiming for) and could have been a Whammy, and ended up winning $110,237 in the end. By December 1984, he lost his fortune to real estate and a telephone scam, and a lot of money in $1 bills was stolen by robbers. To make matters worse, he developed throat cancer in the early 1990s, as was proven when he appeared on Good Morning America in 1994 for an interview after the release of the movie Quiz Show, which centered on game show scandals. Larson died on February 16, 1999 while trying to flee from the police for criminal activity. Other notable contestants These names are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Ken Ashford In April 1986, he was an incredible, and at times, hilarious player. Upon winning his first show, he celebrated by taking off his jacket and Peter Tomarken did the same and threw it across the studio! Ken was also known for uttering the phrase "Work with it!" Maggie Brown-Schpock Appeared on the May 1983 pilot where she won a cruise on the Delta Queen steamboat, along with cash, she would later appear on the CBS series for a short run of two days in March 1984. Tracy Brown In April 1985, she became the second and last known contestant to retire undefeated as a five-time champion, and she left CBS Television City with over $57,000 in cash and prizes. Steve Bryant He was a wide receiver for the Houston Oilers in the NFL, but on Press Your Luck in July 1985, he was best known for his extending the famous cry "BIG BUCKS AND NO WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMIEEEEEEEEEEEEES!" Annemarie Carrera Despite a drastic reduction in prize budget in the latter half of June 1986, this contestant won big. So big, it was the second highest winnings total behind Michael Larson. She ended up winning $62,000+ in just three shows. On one of her appearances, she was the recipient of a lot of passed spins, and dodged the Whammy on all of them. She would later appear on the game show Greed in 2000. Cameron Craycroft This contestant, who appeared in June 1984, served as a spokesperson for Trident chewing gum. Neil Flynn Before he became famous for his role as the janitor on the medical comedy/drama Scrubs, and as Mike Hack on The Middle, Flynn was a contestant on the Wednesday episode of the final week of the series. It is unknown whether or not he won anything during his run. Michael Haines Appeared in December 1983, and won at least $10,000 in cash and prizes. His biggest life-changing event happened when he later won $1,000,000 plus other prizes on The Price is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular in 2008. Jim Hess This contestant could be considered the most controversial contestant in the entire series. Appearing on February 26, 1985, He is most known for swearing upon hitting his third Whammy in Round One, and ultimately hitting a Whammy on the last spin of the game, causing him to lose. At first, the swearing involved the "S" word, which sounded quite weak; but the latter time, his swearing got out of hand - to the extent of the "F" word, along with the "S" word. An average viewer would not be able to pick up on the swearing, unless s/he recorded the episode and played that part over and over again. Neither CBS, nor USA, nor GSN censored the swearing, and also, when GSN aired the episode in the past, even closed captioning did not display such swearing. On an unrelated note, a contestant named Jim Hess also appeared on Let's Make a Deal in the 1970s, but it was a different person. Myke Horton Best known as "Gemini" on American Gladiators, Myke appeared on Press Your Luck on February 6, 1985 during the midst of Home Player Sweepstakes II, but never won a thing. At least he got a nice paycheck for his gig on American Gladiators. Scott Hostetler He's no stranger to game shows. This major game show veteran won big on many shows he appeared on, including Press Your Luck on December 2 and 5, 1983, where he won a nice five-figure total before getting defeated by Thawann. He also appeared as a contestant on Whammy: The All-New Press Your Luck. Hal Johnson One of very few Canadians who appeared on the show, he is best known in Canada for appearing in the "Body Break" health and fitness segments on television. His first television appearance was in December 1985 on Press Your Luck. Unfortunately, he lost, but due to a technical error, he and one of his opponents, Deanne, were invited back for separate rematches in March 1986, where they lost a second time. He would appear on Bob Eubanks' Card Sharks about one year after his rematch. Jenny Jones The future talk show hostess appeared on the show in January 1985, where she won a lot of money, and was even a familiar face seen in future flashback intros later in 1985 and 1986. In addition to Press Your Luck, she previously appeared on the syndicated version of Match Game. Chris Kaas He was noted for being the first player to retire as a five-time champion, even though he surpassed the winnings limit of $50,000 at the time. He later appeared on Bob Eubanks' Card Sharks in May 1986. Michele Known as "The Mistress of the Pass". Appeared for five shows in March and April 1985, and was known for strategically passing spins every opportunity she gets. She ended her third show with the lowest non-$0 total in the entire series with $700 before her run was interrupted due to College Week on April 1 to 5, and resumed on April 8. Unfortunately, her strategy failed on her fifth show, as Mark Lambrecht defeated her. Her final appearance (April 9, 1985) was the last airing of the series on GSN before the network lost the rights to the show on April 1, 2009. Ron During Christmas week 1984, this contestant won big. In fact, he got his biggest Christmas present ever when he retired undefeated with $61,000+ on Christmas Day 1984! At the time, it was the second highest winning total behind Michael Larson, until overshadowed by Annemarie Carrera in June 1986, where she won more than $62,000 in cash and prizes. Cathy Singer She is one player who had an incredible total in August 10, 1984, and she and Lori were known for their infamous spin battle, where the same spin was passed back and forth non-stop for five minutes. When Cathy surpassed $31,000+ upon receiving the spin back, the spin battle ended to a Whammy, and lost her $31,000+ in cash and prizes, and everyone in the studio reacted in disappointment (except for Lori). Dwan Smith An actress who starred in the 1976 film Sparkle, as well as various television series, she appeared on Press Your Luck in April 1986 and won over $30,000 in cash and prizes during her five-day run. She also had the lowest known non-$0 one-day total for all of 1986 with a mere $750. Gene Snyder This guy is best known for claiming he wants $80,000 during his two-day run in July 1984. On one of his spins, he boasted being "mean Gene, dancing machine", a reference to "Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine" on The Gong Show. He would later appear on Card Sharks with Bill Rafferty, and Wipeout (1988), reuniting with Press Your Luck host Peter Tomarken, though he didn't succeed like he did on Press Your Luck. Ralph Strangis This contestant who appeared on May 28 and 29, 1984 would later serve as a play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Stars, and also had a minor role on AWA Championship Wrestling on ESPN. On Press Your Luck, he won $7,431 in cash and prizes. Michael Terrill Some say this Michael is better than Michael Larson. On the final day of his run, he ended up getting three Whammies in Round 1, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. In Round 2, he ended up having a nice total before passing his spins, but eventually became the recipient of eight passed spins and had to dodge the Whammy on all eight spins. He ended up clearing all eight spins, and even hit "Double Your $$ + a Spin" along tbe way, thus bringing his total to just over $33,000. That's a pretty awesome recovery for a contestant who had three Whammies in Round 1! He ended up surpassing the $50,000 winnings limit in just three shows, the shortest time to achieve such feat. Trish She appeared on the show in December 1985, but there is rumor that she was invited back early in June 1986 due to a technical error. Durign her rematch, she was the recipient of multiple passed spins, and on her passed spins she had to take, she hit Double Your $$ + a Spin when her total was $17,500, doubling her score to an even $35,000. But on her next passed spin, the record books were rewritten as Trish lost $35,000 to a Whammy, which was the most money ever lost to a Whammy. It is also claimed that the Photographer Whammy was shown upon her record-breaking loss. Randy West He would later be known for auditioning to replace Rod Roddy as announcer for The Price is Right after his death in October 2003, but as a younger man, he was a contestant on Press Your Luck between September 29 and October 3. He was one of the first contestants to utter the famous cry "Big busks, no Whammies". On his second show, he hit a car on the last spin of the game, and won it - he was also the first player in the series to hit a car. Randy retired undefeated with $25,742 in cash and prizes.